Jon Favreau to write, produce new 'Star Wars' series

by JAKE COYLE, AP Film Writer

FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2017 file photo, Jon Favreau arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" in Los Angeles. Favreau will write and executive produce a live-action “Star Wars” series for the Walt Disney Co.’s planned streaming platform. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced Thursday that Favreau will oversee the new spinoff series. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — That galaxy far, far away keeps expanding. In the latest in a flurry of "Star Wars" spinoffs, the Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday that Jon Favreau will write and executive produce a live-action "Star Wars" series for the company's planned streaming platform.

Disney is readying a streaming service to compete with Netflix, and it has signaled that "Star Wars" will be a major component. The not-yet-named service is planned to launch in late 2019.

"Jon brings the perfect mix of producing and writing talent, combined with a fluency in the Star Wars universe," said Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm president, in a statement. "This series will allow Jon the chance to work with a diverse group of writers and directors and give Lucasfilm the opportunity to build a robust talent base."

Favreau has been a Disney regular, having directed the first two "Iron Man" films for Marvel and 2016's "The Jungle Book." He also helped produce several "Avengers" movies. He's currently prepping a "Lion King" remake to be released in 2019.

He has some "Star Wars" experience, too, having provided a voice for "The Clone Wars" animated series. Favreau also has a role in the upcoming Han Solo spinoff "Solo: A Star Wars Story."

"If you told me at 11 years old that I would be getting to tell stories in the Star Wars universe, I wouldn't have believed you," said Favreau.

Disney has previously announced that "The Last Jedi" writer-director Rian Johnson is developing a new "Star Wars" film trilogy, and that "Game of Thrones" creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff will write and produce a separate series of "Star Wars" films.